


Flesh and Bone

by AbbieSherlockian



Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-26
Updated: 2013-12-26
Packaged: 2018-01-06 04:31:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1102433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbbieSherlockian/pseuds/AbbieSherlockian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darquesse decides to give Skulduggery a gift, to be a man again.  Valkyrie has to find a way out and stop Darquesse, can she do it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flesh and Bone

It had been weeks since he had been home. She was still there, in a sense. Everywhere, she was with him. Meditating never helped him escape; it only brought her to his attention more than not.  
But, he had to go home sometime. She would haunt him anywhere. He opened the door, stale air hitting his face. Not that he could tell, of course. He shut the door and sighed. A pizza box lay opened on the couch, a crust and a half eaten piece of pizza sat inside. He thought of moving it. Deciding against it, he walked into the kitchen. He sat down at the table and took off his hat. He looked around the room, spotting one of her jackets thrown onto the counter.  
He stood up abruptly and loosened his tie. He ran his leather-gloved hands over his skull. He couldn’t get her out of his head. He needed her, now. She was the only thing that could have kept him sane in this situation. He paced the room, shutting off all thought.  
He had been searching for her for months. Following every lead and so-called sighting of her around the world. He felt tired, but shouldn’t be. He didn’t need sleep.  
Minutes later, he found himself standing in the open doorway of her room. He hesitated, stepping into the dark room. Dirty clothes littered the floor along with food wrappers and soda cans. A small poster of a horse was taped to the open closet door. Only one or two shirts actually hung inside. Pictures of her and her family sat on her nightstand. Why was he in here? It only made it worse. He needed to find her and bring her back, no matter what he had to do.  
He stepped over the clothes and garbage to the bathroom. Towels lay on the floor, the shower curtain askew. Her robe was surprisingly hung up on the back of the door. He brushed his fingers against the robe. Cosmetics cluttered on the sink top. He gripped the sides of the sink tightly with his gloved hands. He looked up into the mirror, gazing at his reflection. A bleached white skull stared back. He noticed a slight crack in one of his back teeth.  
He looked past his own eyeless sockets into the darks eyes of the girl he wanted, no needed. She wore her black jacket over her horse T-shirt. He must be hallucinating again. It was happening more frequently now. “You’re not real,” his smooth voice choked. He dropped his head to his sternum. He looked up again and she was gone.  
He sighed and left her bathroom. He entered his room devoted to his suits. He removed his jacket and shirt. The white shirt was stained with blood and dirt, the jacket was too. He looked in the mirror on top of the dresser of ties. His milky white ribcage was nicked in a few places, it could have been worse after a couple hundred years as a skeleton. He could be missing his head. Well… he did technically loose it once or twice, but who was counting?  
As he moved to put on a clean shirt, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned, grabbing the pistol off of the dresser. He pointed it at the intruder.  
She stood in front of him, still wearing the red Brides of Blood Tears garments. They were tattered and covered in dirt. Her dark eyes light with fire. A smirk played on her lips. He knew she was real.  
“Hello, Skulduggery,” she purred.  
The revolver wavered in his hand. “Give her back to me,” he growled. His voice broke and became pleading when he spoke again. “Please, Darquesse.” Skulduggery lowered the revolver. She laughed. “She’s gone, Skulduggery. Valkyrie is gone, there is only me,” she said stepping closer to him.  
“I need her.”  
“Oh look at that! The great Skeleton Detective needs his little partner to give him reason?” Darquesse sneered, now just centimeters away from him. “You’ve lost your friends Ghastly and Shudder to that traitor Ravel, now you have just a shred away from nothing. The one thing you loved is gone. She’s not coming back Skulduggery. Get used to it.”  
“Then why are you here?” he asked, defeated. Darquesse glanced around. “I came back to give you a few gifts.”  
“If none of them are Valkyrie back and you gone for good, I’m not interested,” he said. Darquesse smiled.  
She placed her hand on his ribcage, above where his heart used to beat. Her eyes glowed blue, the light spreading through her body, down her arm to his ribcage. The blue glow wrapped around Skulduggery’s body. He screamed in pain.  
Skulduggery sank to his knees, the glow intensifying around him. Darquesse took her hand away from his chest. Watching Skulduggery sink lower to the ground, writhing and screaming, she smiled. “Good bye Skulduggery. I hope you enjoy your gift when you wake up,” she said.  
Before she left, Darquesse leaned down and kissed him on the teeth. He had stopped writhing, now paralyzed with the pain. An hour after she left, he sank into darkness.

His throat was on fire. He gagged and coughed, dragging himself to the sink. He turned on the faucet, gulping down water. After the burning had settled into a dull pang in the back of his throat, he gasped for air. He gripped the sink to keep himself steady. His knuckles turned paper white. Black spots danced in his vision. He raised his eyes to the mirror above the sink. A man with dark brown hair and green eyes stared back at Skulduggery.  
That was… his face. He touched the mirror. Slender fingers rested on the cold glass in place of his gloved hands. Skulduggery gasped. What had Darquesse done? He ran to Valkyrie’s bedroom, fumbling with his newly fleshed fingers, he flipped on the light. He walked to the full-length mirror that rested beside the closet door.  
Skulduggery no longer saw what he was used to seeing after the last hundred years. Instead of a jaw of teeth and an empty space in the middle of his face, he had full lips and a narrow nose. In place of his hollow ribcage, flesh and lean muscles covered his bones. He was still thin, but not skeletal thin. He’d at least still be able to wear all the clothes Ghastly had made him.  
Skulduggery ran his hand through his hair. Hair! It was soft and not fake, unlike the frizzy wig he used to wear as a disguise. He let loose a little hysteric laugh. Feeling the vibration of the laugh in his chest, Skulduggery’s eyes flashed with amusement and excitement. He rested and hand over his heart. The feel of the fast beating made his head light with giddiness. He hadn’t felt a heart beating in his own chest since he had died trying to get revenge on Serpine for killing his wife and child. It had stopped, and he never expected to feel it again.  
He was alive. Skulduggery could have stood and watched his chest rise and fall with every breath, feel his heart thrum against his ribs, and the vibration his throat made when he hummed or laughed, for what felt like hours. His smile faltered. Darquesse had done this. It wasn’t a gift. Skulduggery felt slightly disgusted with himself for being so pleased to have flesh again, to have a heartbeat. How could he enjoy something like this when Darquesse was running around and Valkyrie was gone?  
“Valkyrie,” he said placing a slender hand on his throat. The first thing he had said since he had woken up. The sound of her name on his lips soothed him a little. He touched his cheek, staring at the glistening tear left on his fingers.  
Those emerald green eyes hardened. Darquesse might have done this, but he wanted his Valkryie. “I will get you back,” he whispered, gazing at the picture of her hugging Alice and laughing on the nightstand. 

 

She awoke in the dark. Water dripped onto her face, the source of her awakening. She didn’t remember who she was; all she knew was that she had to get out. The rock walls were wet and slimy looking. Eugh. She looked for a way out, scaling the walls in the dark, feeling for and opening in places that were not as slimy. Nothing. She would find a way out.

Skulduggery put on a fresh set of clothes. He looked once again at his reflection. The face looking back felt foreign, but was so familiar to him. He put on his hat and walked to the Bentley. He turned the key and the engine purred to life. A ghostly smile glanced on his lips. He put the car in drive and made for Roarhaven.

China sat at a desk, conversing with a few other sorcerers. She waved them off; tired of hearing them confess their love for her inbetween sentences. She kneaded her forehead. A slender hand placed a cup of steaming hot tea in front of her. “Thank you,” she said, graciously picking it up and sipping from it.  
The man walked over to a bookcase full of her favorite books. “Can I help you?” she asked, standing and smoothing the front of her black pencil dress.  
The man turned to face her. “You’ve never offered any assistance to me before,” he smiled, his voice of velvet. China paled, grasping the back of the chair for support. “Skul-Skulduggery?” she stammered, unable to catch her breath. “Is—is this some fluke with the façade?”  
He smiled. “No, China, this is my real face. I didn’t know it would still be able to take your breath away after a few hundred years.” Skulduggery walked back to the desk and stood in front of it. He placed his hands on the cold marble top. His face looked weary and pale. China walked over to him. Her concern etched in her pretty features. “Skulduggery, you need to rest,” she said, guiding him to a couch that sat against the back wall.  
He slumped onto the couch, running a hand over his face. “I had forgotten what it’s like to be tired,” he murmured. China sat next to him. She couldn’t help but stare at him. She had missed that face, those eyes.  
“Skulduggery,” she said sternly, making Skulduggery look up at her. “Yes, China?”  
Her lips pulled into a tiny smile as his eyebrow rose. “Go to sleep,” she whispered and stood. His green eyes were still on her pale blue ones as he slipped farther and farther away, finally closing them and letting sleep come.

She sat in the driest corner of the cave and hugged her legs. It was pitch black. She thought she could hear faint laughter bounce off the walls. She must be going insane.  
She started to remember what had happened. She started to sob. “I’m—sorry—Skulduggery,” she whispered between each racking sob. “Darquesse—is—loose—because—of—me.”  
She curled on her side and tried to force out all her thoughts. It was probably just her mind playing tricks on her, but she thought the cave was lighter. She sat up. The cave was lighter!  
A bubble of hysterical laughter caught in her throat with a sob. She scrambled to her feet and stumbled around, looking for the source of light. A small crack had appeared in the low ceiling. She stood on her tiptoes and placed her eye to the crack.  
All she could see was the light. Laughter filled her ears. “Being sorry won’t stop me, Valkyrie. You’re not going to keep me locked up in there anymore. It’s my turn to be free.”  
Valkyrie backed away from the crack. “It’s not fair! No one deserves to die because of you. Let me out, Darquesse!” she yelled.  
Darquesse chuckled darkly. “Begging isn’t going to help. I’m not going to sit in the back of your mind any longer. Whispering in your ear to be let out has never appealed to me.”  
“Please don’t hurt anyone,” Valkyrie whispered, slumping onto the floor and hugging her knees.  
Silence met her plea. She sat for eternity before Darquesse spoke again. “Good bye, Valkyrie.”  
Valkyrie pounded her fists on the rock wall. “Let me out! Let me out! LET ME OUT!” she screamed. She hit and kicked the wall, screaming until she was hoarse.  
She lay down and cried. Valkyrie had figured that she was trapped somewhere in the recesses of her own mind. The same place Darquesse had probably been when she had been pushed back by Valkyrie. All Valkyrie knew was that she was going to have to fight. 

Skulduggery woke to a salty smell. He opened his sleep-laden eyes and stretched his body. He groaned. His head and back ached. China came over to the couch holding a plate of food.  
“Nice to see you awake, Skulduggery,” she said, setting the plate down on the glass coffee table. “How long have I been asleep?” he asked. He picked up the plate of eggs and toast. His stomach growled at the sight of the food.  
“About fourteen hours. It gave me enough time to do some research.” She picked up a pitcher of orange juice and poured them both a glass.  
Skulduggery had finished the eggs when she set down the glass. “Did you find anything on how she did this?” he asked, downing half the glass. China shook her head. Her black hair swished back and forth in its hair tie.  
“I honestly don’t know how she did it; the answer might have been in one of the books Eliza destroyed when she burned my library to the ground. I doubt it, though,” she sighed and took a sip from her glass.  
“Do you have a theory of why she might?” China asked after she swallowed. Skulduggery set down his empty glass. “Valkyrie is still part of Darquesse, maybe some part of her made Darquesse want to help me, if you can call it that,” he said. He didn’t tell China that he was still hopeful of saving Valkyrie.  
His expression might have given him away. “Skulduggery,” she said quietly. “I still have a shred hope that she’s still in there, but I believe she is gone. Darquesse won’t give her back even if Valkyrie was.”  
Skulduggery’s temper rose. “China, I am not giving up. Since you have, I will just leave you to your own business.” He stood and walked out. China sat staring at the place where Skulduggery had been sitting. She barely blinked as he slammed the door shut.

Valkyrie tried clicking her fingers to summon a flame. Nada. Magic didn’t work here, just her luck. She kept imagining the cave getting a tiny bit brighter, the crack getting bigger. She thought it might be the key to her way out. Valkyrie paced the space. She started to feel cramped and trapped. Claustrophobia wasn’t her favorite thing about herself.  
Valkyrie stopped in the middle of her pacing. What if she tried to think about getting out? Meditating. Skulduggery tried to get her to do it with him, but she hated sitting still and not talking. “Skulduggery, this is pointless,” she whined. “Shut up Valkyrie, I’m trying to meditate and your annoying voice isn’t helping.”  
Thinking about Skulduggery brought a few tears to her eyes. The crack of light flashed and blinded Valkyrie slightly before dying down to a dull light. That was what she needed to do, think about reasons she wanted to escape. Valkyrie felt a knot form in her stomach. Her hands shook with the realization. She sat on the ground and crossed her legs. She would have to learn to like sitting still and doing nothing if she wanted out. Valkyrie closed her eyes and thought of Skulduggery.

Stephanie was waiting for him when he got back to the house. “You look different,” she said as she followed him into one of the multiple living rooms. “What gave it away, Stephanie? My lack of bone showing? Or was it that I left a message on your phone telling you what Darquesse did to me?” he said as he took off his jacket and hat.  
She sat on the couch and looked him up and down. “Valkyrie would be happy to see this,” she commented. Skulduggery froze. “Let’s not talk about her right now,” he sighed and sat down in one of his favorite chairs. “Did China have anything for you?” Stephanie asked. “No, she didn’t know how Darquesse could give me back my flesh. None of her books mentioned a sorcerer capable of such a thing in the past,” he replied and ran his hand through his hair.  
He abruptly got up and bolted to Valkyrie’s room. Stephanie heard the bathroom door slam shut. She couldn’t help but be a little amused as she heard the toilet flushed. Skulduggery came back out a couple minutes later, glaring at her. “Not a word,” he said and sat back down.  
“Valkyrie. Anymore leads on her?” Stephanie asked. Skulduggery shook his head and a muscle jumped out of his jaw as he clenched his teeth. “All the leads I had ran into dead ends. Darquesse didn’t give away any information about where she had been, either. I am at a complete loss.”  
Stephanie shrugged. “We’ll get her back.” Skulduggery snorted. “We seem to be the only ones to think Valkyrie isn’t gone.”  
“That’s because no one else knows her well enough that they don’t think she’s strong enough to get Darquesse back in her place,” Stephanie said. She looked at her phone and stood. “I have to go; Mum needs me to watch Alice. Don’t forget, Val’s going to come back.”  
Skulduggery watched the reflection through the window and drive away on the Oompa Loompa. He sighed again and closed his eyes, trying to get his thoughts away from Valkyrie.

A harsh chuckle jolted Valkyrie out of her meditating. “You really think that is going to help you? I thought you were brighter, Valkyrie,” Darquesse’s voice filled the room. “I’m willing to try everything,” Valkyrie murmured and squeezed her eyes shut again.  
A voice of velvet spoke behind her. “At least he died doing what he loved.” Valkyrie turned to see the man in the overcoat from the funeral. The sunglasses and scarf hid his face.  
“Yes, at least there’s that,” she said the only thing she could think of. “You must be one of the nieces? You’re not stealing anything, you’re not breaking anything. So you must be Stephanie,” he said.  
Valkyrie remembered the first time they had spoken to each other, after Gordon’s funeral. She had loved the smoothness of his voice when he had said her name. She had been drawn to him the moment her eyes had spotted him across the cemetery. Valkyrie thought the light in the cave had grown brighter.  
Darquesse scoffed. “Do what you like, but you are not going to be able to overpower me.”  
Valkyrie didn’t listen; she concentrated on her memories of her friend.  
“…waiting on a Mr. Skulduggery Pleasant,” the portly lawyer said. Beryl and Fergus complained. The man in the overcoat entered the room. Valkyrie was surprised to see him again.  
She had been intrigued by his name. Wouldn’t a man with a name like that be interesting? Fergus might have a strange name, but he wasn’t anyone even remotely interesting.  
Valkyrie opened her eyes. Hope filled her as she looked at the crack above her. It was three inches longer than before and half an inch wider. She smiled.  
“Hug me.”  
“I prefer the old tradition.”  
“Hug.”  
“Would a handshake do?”  
“Hug.”  
“A pat on the back?”  
Valkyrie stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. “Hug,” she said.  
The others embraces had been warm and strong. Skulduggery’s hug was cold, and there were areas on his jacket that gave way beneath her fingers, and she could feel the emptiness within. She didn’t mind.  
The entire cave shuddered, the cracked opened wider and wider. Darquesse screamed. “HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? STOP, VALKYRIE, YOU CAN’T DO THIS!”  
Valkyrie smiled triumphantly and shut her eyes tighter, attempting to block out light.  
Finding Skulduggery after a year being tortured by the Faceless Ones, after searching long and hard for his skull. Flying in Skulduggery’s arms. His embrace comforting her after Ghastly’s death. His façade being pulled away from his skull by the wind as they flew over the desert.  
Valkyrie couldn’t open her eyes now, unless she wanted to be blinded, which of course she didn’t. She wouldn’t be able to see how good she looked. Darquesse shrieked and the light grew brighter and the walls, floor, and ceiling of the cave collapsed. Darquesse stopped and it became dark.

Skulduggery awoke to the sound of his cell phone neighing. Valkyrie had picked that ringtone. She knew he didn’t know how to change it back. He could still hear her snickering every time he got a call. His heart ached as he picked up the phone.  
“Skulduggery,” he said, rubbing his face. China’s excited voice spoke through the other line. “Skulduggery! Something’s happened. There’s news of a girl, around seventeen to twenty, has been spotted somewhere outside of Roarhaven, right after a big explosion of light erupted in that area. You need to get down here.”  
That was all Skulduggery needed to hear. He dropped the phone and ran out to the Bently.

Valkyrie was disoriented when she woke up. She wore the Brides of Blood Tears outfit that she remembered she had been wearing when Darquesse gained control. They were more tattered and dirty than she remembered.  
She stood and nearly fell over. She regained her balance and looked around her. No roads, just a couple trees. Valkyrie closed her eyes and spun in a circle of couple times. She stopped and looked to see which direction she was facing and started to walk that way.

Skulduggery went as fast as he could through the streets, getting a few birds along the way. He didn’t care. Valkyrie could be in Roarhaven. It could be Darquesse, more likely, but Skulduggery was going to stick with the hope of Valkyrie.  
It took longer than he would have liked to get to Roarhaven. “Damn it,” he shouted when he reached for his phone to call China for an estimated location. The cell phone was lying on the chair back at the house.  
He did a U-turn and sped to the city. The Sanctuary stood before him. He jumped out of the car and sprinted through the doors. A few teams of sorcerers were making their way out of them when he burst through.  
“Get me China Sorrows!” he bellowed. They stared blankly at him. “Tell her Skulduggery needs to know where the girl was seen!” One or two of them chuckled. “You’re not the Skeleton Detective, mate. He’s a skeleton, and you definitely aren’t,” one said. Skulduggery threw him against the wall. “Just tell her, you idiot,” he said and shoved the sorcerer in the direction of China’s office.  
Minutes later, China came clacking down the hall. “Skulduggery, I thought you would be out trying to find the girl,” she said. “I was, but I need to know where the explosion was and I forgot my phone.”  
“Not like you, but all right. Just east, off the road a little ways. I’ve sent a few mages out there; you’ll be able to find it.”  
Skulduggery nodded to her and ran back to the car. A few voices followed behind him.  
“That wasn’t Pleasant, was it?”  
“No, no, it couldn’t have been. He does look similar to what Pleasant looked like before, but…”

Valkyrie stood on the edge a road and looked both ways. It seemed somewhat familiar. She had never paid attention when Skulduggery drove, so she wasn’t sure if she was near a place she knew. She decided to go left, wishing she had some damn shoes. 

Skulduggery’s mind wasn’t focused on the road. He kept scanning the sides of the road for the team China had sent out, or a flash of red. He saw no sign of either until half an hour of driving. A sorcerer stood a couple feet off the road and was waving frantically to Skulduggery.  
He pulled off the road and stopped in front of the man. When Skulduggery got out of the car, he saw it was Saracen. Saracen Rue did a double take when he laid eyes on Skulduggery.  
“Hell, is that you?” Rue asked. Skulduggery gave him a quick smirk. “In the flesh. Where is she?”  
Rue stared at him for another moment before speaking. “The explosion didn’t cause any damage. No sign of Darquesse of Valkyrie. If she was here, she’s gone now.” They walked a little ways away from the road to a group of mages. One of them looked over when Rue and Skulduggery neared.  
“Who’s this?” she asked. Skulduggery ignored her and began to search the area for signs of Valkyrie. He saw no tracks or evidence of anyone being there except for the mages behind him. He was about to give up when he saw it. A piece of red fabric snagged on a branch. He sucked in a breath and bent to pick it up. She had been there.  
Saracen stood behind Skulduggery. “So she was here,” he said. Skulduggery didn’t reply. “Valkyrie,” he murmured as he rubbed the cloth between his fingers.  
“Skulduggery?” Rue asked. Skulduggery stood up and turned to his friend. “Make sure China knows that Valkyrie was here and to send more sorcerers out to look for her,” he told Rue and started walking back to the car.

Valkyrie started to grumble after an hour of walking. She had stepped on multiple rocks and twigs with her bare feet, which were now throbbing with pain. Skulduggery would have been amused by her misery.  
She stopped to rub her foot after stepping an especially sharp rock. Valkyrie raised her head and looked around. She mildly recognized where she was now. Skulduggery’s house was less than another hour away.  
After thinking this, Valkyrie picked up her pace, ignoring the pain in her feet and how weary she felt. All she knew was that she was close to home.

Skulduggery barely kept his eyes on the road when driving back home. He scanned the sides of the road for a flash of red, nearly running off into another car once or twice. His heart sank as he reached the city without finding her. Maybe Valkyrie wasn’t there at all; maybe it had been Darquesse playing with him.  
When he pulled up to his house, cars lined the street. Both funeral homes were having visitations that evening. The rivals sent glares at the other every so often while standing in their doorways. It didn’t faze Skulduggery anymore; the two had been at this for quite some time.  
Skulduggery shut the door behind him with the heel of his shoe. He sighed and walked into the kitchen. The cupboards and fridge held nothing edible, except for a moldy pizza that was only God knows how old, and a practically empty box of cereal. He found a dusty bottle of liquor buried behind empty boxes and dishes. Skulduggery opened the bottle and took a swig. He coughed from being unused to the burning of the alcohol going down his throat. After a few more sips, he was used to it. He leaned against the counter and stared out the window.

Valkyrie was almost there. Exhaustion clung to her body and fogged up her mind. She could see a dim light in the window and the gleam hitting the hood of the Bently. God, she had missed that car. She dragged her feet up the street and stopped a second beside the car to run her hand over it. Valkyrie smiled and started toward the front door.  
Her heart thudded quickly as she opened the door. “Skulduggery?” she whispered loudly as she stepped inside. The only light on was the light in the kitchen. She heard someone grunt in the other room. “Valkyrie?” they said and footsteps started towards the living room.  
Valkyrie’s eyes widened as a man she didn’t know stopped in front of her. He wore a dress shirt and black trousers, his tie hanging loosely around his neck. His brown hair was unkempt. Valkyrie saw that his eyes were bright and his cheeks colored from drinking. She backed away from him.  
“Who are you and where’s Skulduggery?” she asked. The man blinked at her. “Is it really you, or am I just drunk and hallucinating?” he asked, more himself than her. He looked at the bottle in his hand and set it on a nearby table.  
“Answer my question,” Valkyrie said, clicking her fingers and summoning a small ball of fire. The man smiled slightly. “I’m going to say I’m not hallucinating. Valkyrie, it’s me, Skulduggery,” he said and took another step towards her. Valkyrie shook her head. “No, Skulduggery’s a skeleton.”  
The man’s expression changed to desperation. “Val, please, believe me,” he pleaded. She took a closer look at him. He wore one of Skulduggery’s favorite suits. His voice was the same, smooth and as soft as velvet. The cheek bones…  
Valkyrie smiled and ran over to the man. This was Skulduggery. She threw herself into his arms. “Skulduggery,” she breathed into his chest. His arms tightened around her. She raised her head to look at him. “What happened to you?” she asked. Skulduggery flashed her a wide smile. “Darquesse changed me back,” he said and shrugged. “I don’t know exactly what she did or why she did it, but I am even handsomer than before.”  
Valkyrie laughed. “Yeah, I’ll give you that. I think you look better than you did as a skeleton, too.” Skulduggery brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “What happened to you?” he asked. Valkyrie didn’t know what really happened or how to explain it. “I pushed Darquesse out, and there was a flash of light and I was in a clearing or somewhere.”  
“Do you remember how you got rid of her?”  
Valkyrie shook her head. “All I did was think of who I wanted to get back to,” she said. Skulduggery nodded, staring across the room. Valkyrie would never get used to seeing him as a man, not a skeleton. His green eyes looked back down at her. “Alice and your parents?”  
She shifted her eyes away from his, feeling a little bit of a blush creep into her cheeks. “Mostly you,” she said, willing her eyes to meet his again. It was weird to think he had actual eyes now. Skulduggery’s lips quirked up in an amused smile, but he didn’t comment. They stood in each other’s embrace for a long while.  
Hugging him was different now, too. Skulduggery’s clothes didn’t give way to her fingers anymore; instead, her fingers felt warm skin beneath his shirt. She rested her head on his chest again, which rose and fell with his breathing. She could feel his heartbeat. This was definitely a change Valkyrie could get used to.  
(Bits and pieces from Valkyrie’s memory used from Derek Landy’s Scepter of the Ancients and Last Stand of Dead Men.)

**Author's Note:**

> Work in progress- Our Scarred Man Returns, kind of a sequel to this.


End file.
